research methods Flashcards
Define ‘Ethical Guidelines’
Codes of practice that are designed to be followed as a guide by people involved in psychological research
What are 4 roles of the Ethics Committee?
- Review and monitor research proposals
- Ensure guidelines are met and adhered to before and during the conduct of research
- Decide whether there are similar studies
- Decide whether risk to participant welfare outweighs any benefit research would give society
Explain ‘Protection from harm’
Protect physical and psychological wellbeing e.g. debriefing study at the end
Explain ‘Informed consent’
If under 18, legal guardian must give written consent
Consent must include purpose, procedure, withdrawal rights, how and what info is stored, potential risks, what participant is required to do
Explain ‘Withdrawal rights’
Right of participant to end participation at any time, have their results removed at any time
Without pressure or penalty
Explain ‘Confidentiality’
Info stored in secure manner and disposed when no longer required.
HOW the information is stored
If participant wishes to share their study information, what do they need to do?
- Identify as ‘Participant X’
- Complete written consent
Explain ‘Privacy’
Only relevant information is to be used.
WHAT information is used.
Explain ‘Voluntary participation’
Choosing to participate without bribery or coercion. Cannot be at risk of failing course if do not take part.
Explain ‘Deception’
Lying about true nature of study so results are not affected.
If it causes risks to outweigh potential benefit, it should not be used
Explain ‘Debriefing’ and what MUST be included during debriefing.
Explanation at conclusion of study.
- Deception is described
- Reasons for deception
- Given oppurtunity to ask questions and express opinions
- Advised of provision for extra support
Define ‘Refinement’ in animal research
Minimise potential distress or pain in animals
Define ‘Reduction’ in animal research
More information from the same/less number of animals used.
Define ‘Replacement’ in animal research
Eliminate need for animal research
What are strengths of experimental research designs?
- Researchers control variable
- Cause and effect relationship
What are limitations of experimental research designs?
- Controlled environment = lacks realism and may impact participant behaviour
- Human error risk when controlling variables
What are strengths of non-experimental research designs?
- Natural observations = controlled setting doesn’t have to be created
- Allows research where IV manipulation is unethical
What are limitations of non-experimental research designs?
- No reliable casual connections
- No cause and effect
- Larger sample size is needed
Explain ‘Observational’ research design
Monitoring participants to study behaviour
What are the strengths of ‘Observational’ research design?
- Can be replicated by other researchers
- More likely to behave naturally
What are the limitations of ‘Observational’ research design?
- May change behaviour if aware of being observed
- Observer bias may occur
Explain ‘Case study’ research design and why it is applied to certain people.
In-depth investigation of an individual person, group, or single event
Cannot be repeated ethically as it caused _____ to participant (such as harm)
What are the strengths of ‘Case study’ research design?
- Detailed information
- Information is gathered from range of perspectives
What are the limitations of ‘Case study’ research design?
- Results cannot be generalised to the population the sample was taken from
- Limited conclusions due to lack of formal control groups
Explain ‘Correlational’ research design
Measures the linear relationship between two variables
What are the strengths of ‘Correlational’ research design?
- Potential hypothesis based on correlation can be tested using experimental design
- Can be used when manipulating variables in experimental research is unethical
What are the limitations of ‘Correlational’ research design?
- Correlations do not show how variables are related
- Extraneous variables are not controlled
Explain ‘Longitudinal’ research design?
Data collected more than once, using the same participants
What are the strengths of ‘Longitudinal’ design?
- Developmental trends can be studied over a lifetime
- Frequency, timing, or duration of events can be assessed
What are the limitations of ‘Longitudinal’ design?
- Takes longer time to get results than with cross-sectional
- Participants may drop out along the way
Explain ‘Cross-sectional’ research design
Data is collected at one point in time
What are the strengths of ‘Cross-sectional’ design?
- Quicker to conduct
- Costs less to conduct than longitudinal
What are the limitations of ‘Cross-sectional’ design?
- Results may differ if another time for collecting data was chosen
- Sample size may not be large enough to generalise results
Define ‘Population’
The entire group of people that is of interest to a researcher
Define ‘Sample’
Subsection of the population
Define ‘Sampling’
Process of selecting participants from a population of research to be used in the study
Explain ‘Convenience sampling’
Participants who are easily accessible to be selected
What are the strengths of ‘Convenience sampling’
- Low effort and time
- Low costs
What are the limitations of ‘Convenience sampling’
- High level of researcher bias as participants are subjectively selected
- Lacks generalisability
Explain ‘Snowball sampling’
Initial participants chosen then each participant is encouraged to contact others to join study
What are the strengths of ‘Snowball sampling’
- Sample would otherwise be difficult to recruit
- Less time to gather recruits
What are limitations of ‘Snowball sampling’
- Lacks generalisability
- May be bias
Explain ‘Random sampling’
Names randomly selected by drawing out of hat/computer generated program
What are the strengths of ‘Random Sampling’
- Bias is minimised
- Equal chance for each participant to be in sample
What are the limitations of ‘Random Sampling’
- Time consuming
- Lacks generalisability
Explain ‘Stratifies Sampling’
Participants from each subgroup are randomly selected in same proportions they appear in the population
What are the strengths of ‘Stratified sampling’
- Likely to be representative of population
- Bias is minimised
What are the limitations of ‘Stratified Sampling’
- Time and effort is high
- Researchers may struggle to classify each participants of population into subgroups
Explain ‘Random allocation’
Random distribution of participants into experimental and control groups to reduce researcher bias and increase generalisability of results
What are the strengths of ‘Random allocation’
- Allows generalisability
- Prevents selection bias
What are the limitations of ‘Random Allocation’
- Cannot be used when IV is not manipulated
- Group equality is not guaranteed
Define ‘Participant variables’
Type of extraneous variables relating to individual characteristics of participants
How do you control participant variables?
- Ensure participants selected for sample have similar characteristics suitable for study
- Random allocation
Define ‘Environmental variables’
Extraneous variable relating to the environment the study takes place in AND how affects participants
Define ‘Researcher variables’
Extraneous variables relating to the personality characteristics, appearance and conduct of the researcher that unintentionally impact participant responses
Define ‘Confounding variables’
Variables that impact the dependent variable and also have a causal or correlational relationship with the IV
Explain the ‘Experimenter Effect’
The expectations of behaviours of the researcher that may bias results
What is an example of how to avoid experimenter effects?
Running double blind procedure where researcher and participants are unaware of the experimental conditions - reduces experimenter effects
Explain ‘Demand characteristics’
Cues participants perceive during a study that lead them to believe they have discovered the aim of the study or expectations of the researcher
Give 3 examples of how to minimise the effects of variables
- Random allocation of participants
- Single blind procedure
- Standardisation of procedures and instructions
Explain ‘Random allocation of participants’
Participants characteristics and traits are spread over both experimental and control group.
Ensures the dependent variable is a results of the IV and not participant characteristics
Explain ‘Single blind procedure’
Experimenter is aware of the experimental conditions while participants are unaware
Helps control demand characteristics
Explain ‘Standardisation of procedures and instructions’
Environment variables can be minimised by providing the same location and conditions for all participants
Avoids confounding variables as all conditions identical
What is the independent variable?
Independent variable causes an effect on the dependent variable. (E.g. hours of sleep you get)
What is the dependent variable?
Variable that changes as a result of the independent variable. (E.g. grade on a test)
What is qualitative data?
Descriptive information in form of words
What is quantitative data?
Information in the form of numbers
Name 3 types of interviews in qualitative data collection
- Structured interviews
- Semi-structured interviews
- Open-ended interviews
Name 3 examples of objective physiological measures in quantitative data collection
- Heart rate
- Breathing rate
- Galvanic skin response
Name 2 examples of subjective quantitative data collection
- Checklist
- Rating scale (Likert)
Explain the difference between subjective and objective data collection
Subjective is data based on personal opinions or judgments, objective is data based on facts that can be measured or observed
Explain mixed methods in data collection
Where qualitative and quantitative collected from participants in the same study
What is the measures of central tendency?
Mean and median. Descriptive statistic that produce the average
Define Pearson’s correlation coefficient
The strength and direction of a linear relationship showed in numerical form
Define evidence based conclusion
A conclusion derived from objective evidence, such as research from credible sources
Define validity
The degree to which a measurement tool evaluated what it is designed to measure
Define reliability
The degree to which a measurement tool produces consistent results
Define generalisability
The extent to which the results gathered from a sample in research can be applied to other situations
What are 2 strengths of objective physiological measures?
- Limited risk of participant bias
- Measures can be recorded in real-time
What are 2 limitations of objective physiological measures?
- Factors such as heat or exercise can affect the measurement
- Anxiety in participants may occur when measure is being taken
What are 2 strengths of subjective measures?
- Can be statistically analysed
- Large sample size may result in relatively short measure time
What are 2 limitations of subjective measures?
- Responses are limited to options provided
- Does not allow participants to give reasons for their responses
Contrast sample data and population data
Sample data is collected from a small sample group, whereas population data is collected from the whole population
Why do the bars touch in histograms?
Because data is continuous
Outline two reasons why research can be named correlational
- A relationship between 2 variables is being investigated
- No cause and effect relationship
List three possible relationships for any two variables assessed in correlational research
- Positive
- Negative
- No relationship
When is it appropriate to use a bar graph?
When data is discrete
When is it appropriate for deception to be used in research?
When there is no other alternative to achieve the aim of the experiment.
Why are participant variables reduced?
To remove possibility of results being affected by participant variables.
Describe 5 features of an experimental research design
- Establishes casual relationship between variables
- Systematic/scientific process
- Tests impact of independent variable
- On dependent variables
- With a high level of control of extraneous variables
Explain ‘Non-experimental’ research designs
IV cannot be manipulated
No cause and effect relationship
No random allocation
